El Heraldo de México: Verónica Ortiz*
Nov. 15, 2019
The change in the presidency of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) will go down in history as an ignominious act. It is ignominious due to the dirty process of ratification in the Senate. The new head of the CNDH did not obtain the required votes. Beyond tricks and shows on the podium, simple arithmetic did not give her the votes needed to attain the “two thirds of the members present” indicated in the Constitution. Of the 116 senators attending, 76 voted for Rosario Piedra Ibarra. She needed 77.
It was also ignominious that the Committee on Human Rights endorsed a candidate who does not meet one of the legal requirements for the position: not having held office in any political party in the year prior to her appointment. Mrs. Piedra was part of the National Council of Morena [Movement for National Regeneration, party founded in 2014 by now President Andrés Manuel López Obrador] until yesterday when she applied for a leave of absence. Regardless of her personal qualities [she has been an advocate for disappeared persons], the appointment and ratification of the new president is in violation of current legislation and, thus, strikes at the autonomy of the CNDH.
So, lastly, her election is ignominious for being an incomprehensible and ruthless offense against the autonomous agencies [established over the last three decades to give oversight of the government free of presidential control]. The president´s animosity regarding the autonomous agencies is well known. He has publicly said that these organs "multiplied to create another state." What is surprising is that his advisors have not corrected him from his mistake and informed him properly.
Nov. 15, 2019
The change in the presidency of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) will go down in history as an ignominious act. It is ignominious due to the dirty process of ratification in the Senate. The new head of the CNDH did not obtain the required votes. Beyond tricks and shows on the podium, simple arithmetic did not give her the votes needed to attain the “two thirds of the members present” indicated in the Constitution. Of the 116 senators attending, 76 voted for Rosario Piedra Ibarra. She needed 77.
It was also ignominious that the Committee on Human Rights endorsed a candidate who does not meet one of the legal requirements for the position: not having held office in any political party in the year prior to her appointment. Mrs. Piedra was part of the National Council of Morena [Movement for National Regeneration, party founded in 2014 by now President Andrés Manuel López Obrador] until yesterday when she applied for a leave of absence. Regardless of her personal qualities [she has been an advocate for disappeared persons], the appointment and ratification of the new president is in violation of current legislation and, thus, strikes at the autonomy of the CNDH.
So, lastly, her election is ignominious for being an incomprehensible and ruthless offense against the autonomous agencies [established over the last three decades to give oversight of the government free of presidential control]. The president´s animosity regarding the autonomous agencies is well known. He has publicly said that these organs "multiplied to create another state." What is surprising is that his advisors have not corrected him from his mistake and informed him properly.
There are not hundreds or even tens of autonomous constitutional bodies. There are seven. There were eight, but this year's educational counter-reform eliminated the INEE [National Institute for Educational Evaluation, established to create and implement tests for teacher hiring and promotion, and student achievement]. That is why there are seven in the Constitution:
1. INAI [National Institute for Access to Information]: to guarantee access to public information and protection of personal data.
2. Inegi [National Institute of Statistics and Geography]: to provide an official national statistical and geographic information system.
3. Bank of Mexico: to ensure the stability of the purchasing power of the national currency [prevent inflation].
4. CNDH: to protect human rights against acts or omissions of any authority or public servant.
5. National Electoral Institute: for the organization of elections.
6. Cofece [Federal Economic Competition Commission]: to guarantee free competition, investigate and punish monopolies and concentrations of business.
7. IFETEL [Federal Telecommunications Institute]: for the efficient development [via competition] of broadcasting and telecommunications.
Beyond prejudices, it would be useful to evaluate the strengths we have gained with these institutions. Some are the result of civil society struggles (INE, CNDH, INAI). Other guarantee technical decisions that require a high degree of specialization (Cofece, Ifetel). Others offer economic certainty (Banxico, Inegi). Reviewing these agencies, the official phobia and hypercentralist mood do not seem justified. To the contrary, it is necessary to take care of them because nobody wants to see those functions under the power of a single person, whoever it is. Spanish original
Also the author of novels, she won the Coatlicue Prize (2006), awarded by the International Coordinating Committee of Women (COMUNARTE). @veronicaortizo
1. INAI [National Institute for Access to Information]: to guarantee access to public information and protection of personal data.
2. Inegi [National Institute of Statistics and Geography]: to provide an official national statistical and geographic information system.
3. Bank of Mexico: to ensure the stability of the purchasing power of the national currency [prevent inflation].
4. CNDH: to protect human rights against acts or omissions of any authority or public servant.
5. National Electoral Institute: for the organization of elections.
6. Cofece [Federal Economic Competition Commission]: to guarantee free competition, investigate and punish monopolies and concentrations of business.
7. IFETEL [Federal Telecommunications Institute]: for the efficient development [via competition] of broadcasting and telecommunications.
Beyond prejudices, it would be useful to evaluate the strengths we have gained with these institutions. Some are the result of civil society struggles (INE, CNDH, INAI). Other guarantee technical decisions that require a high degree of specialization (Cofece, Ifetel). Others offer economic certainty (Banxico, Inegi). Reviewing these agencies, the official phobia and hypercentralist mood do not seem justified. To the contrary, it is necessary to take care of them because nobody wants to see those functions under the power of a single person, whoever it is. Spanish original
*Verónica Ortiz [Lawrenz] is a Mexican writer and journalist. She is currently the director-general of the Mexican Council on External Affairs (COMEXI). She started as a moderator and researcher in 1980 with the first television and radio programs on sex education on Canal Eleven [operated by the National Polytechnic Institute]. In 1996, she won the National Journalism Prize of the Journalist Club of Mexico. She also initiated spaces for sex education on TV Mexiquense, Radio UNAM, Radio Capital,and Radio 590, among other media.
She was founder of workshops and seminars on journalism and wrote for El Financiero (1990-1998), as well as being the founder, writer and member of the editorial board of Emeequis (MX) magazine. From 2008 to April 2013, she was founder and director of DF Code, an online cultural radio program of the Secretariat of Culture the Federal District (now Mexico City).